#pacific ocean

SpaceX seeking permit to splash down in Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean

Public comments are due Jan. 17 on Elon Musk’s plans for his SpaceX rockets to splash down in a much wider area, including Hawaiian waters and 240 nautical miles east of the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary.

Fish food: UH researchers study circular ocean currents’ role in phytoplankton blooms

Circular ocean currents, called “eddies,” play an important role in supplying nutrients for marine life and can stimulate blooms of phytoplankton, microscopic plant life that lives on the ocean surface, according to new research published by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa oceanographers.

The Nature Conservancy unveils expanded insurance policy for Hawai‘i coral reefs

The Nature Conservancy first purchased statewide coral reef insurance in 2022. The new policy doubles the area covered – as well as the minimum payout following a damaging hurricane or tropical storm.

UH: Long-lasting La Niña events increasing in frequency, impacting industries

New research from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa reveals that the occurrence of long-lasting La Niña events, which impact many industries from agriculture to tourism, have become more frequent.

El Niño, La Niña multi-year events could become more common, intensify climate risks

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa assistant professor and an international team of researchers have revealed shifts in the tropical Pacific’s “Pacific Walker Circulation,” potentially leading to more prolonged El Niño and La Niña events, and intensifying climate-related impacts.

Currents bring both debris and marine life to the Pacific Garbage Patch

Marine surface-dwelling organisms, such as jellies, snails, barnacles and crustaceans, are a critical ecological link between diverse ecosystems.

Earthjustice files lawsuit to protect sea turtles, sharks, whales

Earthjustice filed suit today on behalf of the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i and native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Mike Nakachi seeking protection of a host of threatened and endangered Pacific Ocean species from harm.

Lockheed Martin applies for extension of deep-sea mining licenses in Pacific Ocean

Lockheed Martin has applied to the federal government to extend two licenses to 2027 for exploratory deep-sea mining of hard minerals in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, halfway between Mexico and Hawaiʻi.

Insidious Coral Killer Invading Palmyra Atoll Reef

The reefs at Palmyra Atoll, a small outlying atoll in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, are being invaded by an insidious coral killer, according to a study published in Coral Reefs and led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa marine biology researchers.

UH Joins Largest-Ever Study of Coral

A group of researchers is hoping to save coral reef communities in the Indo-Pacific region with the “largest study ever conducted of its kind.”